Precision Neuroscience has closed an oversubscribed $250 million Series D to push its Layer 7 Cortical Interface, a brain-computer interface already FDA-cleared for short-term use, through further regulatory review and toward commercialization. The New York company announced the round on 24 September 2026, co-led by Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Inc. and the newly formed Ackman Oxman Institute, a brain-health research institute Ackman and Neri Oxman launched in August 2026.
The round in four figures
Figures from Precision Neuroscience’s 24 September 2026 announcement and its publicly disclosed funding history.
Six figures apart, one growing category
Brain-computer interfaces remain a small, fast-growing category with no settled size. Precedence Research puts the 2026 market at $3.33 billion; Towards Healthcare estimates $3.75 billion the same year, growing to $15.04 billion by 2035. The gap between even these two named publishers says more about how differently each draws the category’s edges than about the technology’s prospects — and neither figure yet reflects a quarter as newsworthy for BCI regulatory progress as this one.
Brain-computer interfaces, two ways of counting
$3.33B → $15.04B
Global brain-computer interface market, 2026 estimates from two research firms and Towards Healthcare’s own 2035 forecast.
Sources: Towards Healthcare, Brain-Computer Interface Market · Precedence Research, Brain Computer Interface Market
Regulatory News outlook
We’d expect the BCI market to land nearer Towards Healthcare’s larger trajectory than Precedence Research’s narrower one, as clearances like Precision’s and Synchron’s clinical progress give the category more regulatory proof points than it had when either forecast was modeled.
How we got here: Towards Healthcare’s own figures imply a compound annual growth rate of roughly 16.7% from 2026 to 2035, which is the entire basis for its $15.04 billion 2035 figure; this outlook treats that rate as the more likely path given that three companies — Precision, Synchron and Blackrock Neurotech — now hold FDA clearances of some kind, up from essentially one two years ago.
Four companies, four different regulatory positions
| Company | Approach | Regulatory stage |
|---|---|---|
| Precision Neuroscience | Minimally invasive, non-penetrating thin-film surface array (Layer 7) | 510(k)-cleared for up to 30 days of cortical recording, monitoring and stimulation (March 2025) |
| Synchron | Catheter-delivered stent electrode (Stentrode), no open brain surgery | FDA Breakthrough Device designation; early feasibility study complete; pivotal trial targeted for 2026, ahead of any PMA filing |
| Neuralink | Fully implanted penetrating electrode array, surgical robot placement | Investigational Device Exemption; expanding feasibility study; no 510(k) or PMA yet |
| Blackrock Neurotech | Penetrating Utah Array, over a decade of academic implants | 510(k)-cleared array, the longest-established clearance in the field |
From public FDA records, company announcements and trade-press reporting; not a clinical comparison. Precision’s clearance covers general cortical recording, monitoring and stimulation, not a specific disease indication.
A thin film instead of a needle
Layer 7 is built from a thin-film array of electrodes that sits on the surface of the brain rather than penetrating into it — a deliberate contrast from Neuralink, where Precision co-founder and chief science officer Dr. Benjamin Rapoport worked as one of the company’s original engineers before leaving in 2018 over safety concerns about penetrating electrodes. FDA’s March 2025 510(k) clearance covers up to 30 days of cortical recording, monitoring and stimulation; it is not an indication for any specific disease, and Precision’s clinical use so far centers on intraoperative brain mapping during neurosurgery, with longer-duration use enabling paralyzed patients to control computers by thought as the company’s stated long-term aim.
What backs a $250 million round
A clearance already in hand
Layer 7 has carried a 510(k) clearance since March 2025 — a regulatory position ahead of Neuralink, which has only an investigational exemption, though behind Blackrock Neurotech’s decade-old Utah Array clearance for penetrating electrodes.
A non-penetrating design, by design
Co-founder Benjamin Rapoport left Neuralink’s founding team in 2018 over safety concerns about penetrating electrodes; Precision’s surface array is the resulting contrast, not an incidental design choice.
A research institute, not just an investor, at the table
The Ackman Oxman Institute, an August 2026 nonprofit brain-health and neuroscience institute Bill Ackman anchored with roughly $400 million in Pershing Square stock, co-led the round — a research partner as much as a financial one, given its own stated focus on brain-computer interfaces.
What $250 million is actually buying
Precision’s own framing of the round is specific: proceeds expand its clinical program, advance Layer 7 through further FDA review beyond the 30-day clearance it already holds, and build the infrastructure a commercial launch would require. The company has not stated a specific next regulatory filing or timeline.
“The next phase of BCI will be defined by more than technology alone. We have built the clinical network, regulatory position, and manufacturing base that leadership in this field requires. We are also putting safety at the center of our product design, forming deep partnerships with the world’s leading neurosurgeons and academic medical centers, and building a company and a culture that we hope will endure. We’re proud to have investors who share that long-term vision.” Michael Mager, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Precision Neuroscience — per the company’s 24 September 2026 announcement
Five years, four rounds, one clearance
Precision’s road to a $250 million round
- 2021
Founded in New York
Michael Mager and Dr. Benjamin Rapoport, an original member of Neuralink’s founding team who left in 2018 over safety concerns about penetrating electrodes, found Precision Neuroscience.
- May 2021
Series A, $12 million
Led by Steadview Capital.
- January 2023
Series B, $41 million
Led by Forepont Capital Partners.
- December 2024
Series C, $102 million
Led by General Equity Holdings, with B Capital, Duquesne Family Office and Steadview Capital participating.
- 30 March 2025
Layer 7 cleared by FDA
510(k) clearance for up to 30 days of cortical recording, monitoring and stimulation, publicly announced 17 April 2025.
- August 2026
Ackman Oxman Institute launches
Bill Ackman and Neri Oxman found a brain-health research institute, anchored with roughly $400 million in Pershing Square stock, with a stated focus that includes brain-computer interfaces.
- 24 September 2026
$250 million Series D
Co-led by Pershing Square Inc. and the Ackman Oxman Institute, alongside an unnamed life-sciences fund.
- Ahead
Further FDA review
The company has not disclosed a specific next filing or timeline for expanding Layer 7 beyond its current 30-day clearance.
- Funding discrepancy: Precision’s own release puts total funding at roughly $430 million since 2021; publicly disclosed Series A through D rounds sum to $405 million, a gap Regulatory News could not reconcile.
- Unnamed co-lead: the Series D’s third co-lead is described only as “a leading life sciences investment fund” in the company’s own release.
- What’s not yet public: a specific timeline or filing type for the “next stages of FDA review” the round is meant to fund.
Sources & further reading
- Precision Neuroscience, “Precision Neuroscience Closes Oversubscribed $250M Series D Led by Pershing Square Inc., the Ackman Oxman Institute and a Leading Life Sciences Investment Fund,” press release, 24 September 2026. globenewswire.com
- MassDevice, “Precision Neuroscience raises $250M in Series D for its BCI.” massdevice.com
- Citeline / Medtech Insight, “Precision Neuroscience Raises $250M In Series D To Advance Brain-Computer Interface.” insights.citeline.com
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 510(k) clearance record K242618, Layer 7 Cortical Interface, cleared 30 March 2025. accessdata.fda.gov
- Towards Healthcare, Brain-Computer Interface Market. towardshealthcare.com
- Precedence Research, Brain Computer Interface Market. precedenceresearch.com
Regulatory News reports on public regulatory documents. It is not legal advice, and the primary sources above govern. If we have made an error, we will say so in public: see corrections.
Frequently asked questions
Is Precision Neuroscience's device FDA-approved to treat paralysis?
No. Its Layer 7 Cortical Interface has held a 510(k) clearance since March 2025 for general recording, monitoring and stimulation of electrical activity on the brain's surface, for up to 30 days — not an approval for any specific disease or indication. Restoring communication for paralyzed patients is the company's stated long-term application, built on top of that general clearance, not what the clearance itself specifies.
Who led the $250 million Series D?
Pershing Square Inc. (Bill Ackman's firm) and the Ackman Oxman Institute, a nonprofit brain-health research institute Ackman and Neri Oxman founded in August 2026, co-led the round alongside an investment fund the company did not name.
How much has Precision Neuroscience raised in total?
The company's own release puts total funding at roughly $430 million since its 2021 founding. Regulatory News could independently confirm $405 million across its publicly disclosed Series A ($12M, 2021), B ($41M, 2023), C ($102M, 2024) and this $250 million Series D — a $25 million gap the company's release does not explain.
Is Precision Neuroscience the first company with an FDA-cleared brain-computer interface?
No. Blackrock Neurotech's Utah Array, a penetrating electrode array, has held FDA 510(k) clearance for over a decade. Precision's claim, as trade press reports it, is narrower: the first clearance for a minimally invasive, non-penetrating cortical array.
